


Good Boy

by marsakat



Series: prompt fills [1]
Category: Twenty One Pilots
Genre: Anxiety Attacks, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Emotional support animal, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Panic Attacks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-24
Updated: 2019-08-24
Packaged: 2020-09-25 10:40:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 780
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20375410
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/marsakat/pseuds/marsakat
Summary: Josh has gotten so much better with managing his anxiety, but when he needs it, Jim is there to help him the best way he knows how. (Happy 2nd Birthday to Jim!)





	Good Boy

**Author's Note:**

  * For [C0LUMBINE](https://archiveofourown.org/users/C0LUMBINE/gifts).

> was prompted by C0LUMBINE to write about Jim and here ya go— a little short h/c

It was Tyler’s idea to personify his struggles, give a name to his inner demons and insecurities. Josh understood the concept and thought it was a good idea to make tangible what was being fought. He viewed his own anxiety as more like a storm. Sometimes the skies were clear and a happy blue with sunshine warming every inch of him. 

But then clouds would gather, darkening and threatening. Wind kicking up to set all his senses on high alert. The rumbles and flashes crescendoing to panic that made him hide away. He could try to take shelter, to dissipate the rain, but sometimes gales of wind would shove down his throat and into his chest and take his breath away. 

Out of control, spiraling, Josh would go to the floor to find any source of grounding. Music helped. Isolation recharged him. But he still felt so alone in his struggle against nature. 

He still had anxiety attacks when on hiatus, but overall he’d been managing really well. And while Josh preferred being on tour and performing, the heavy travel and disturbed sleeping schedule made him more susceptible to these episodes. The tiniest things stick to his brain like a magnet pulling in every nail, growing and growing till it exploded in thunderous panic. 

It was just one of those days Josh woke up with a twinge in his back, oversleeping his workout so he had to go to soundcheck with stiff muscles. He got lost in the venue, was late to soundcheck by a few minutes and Tyler made fun of him— completely without heat or anger, but Josh was so sensitive that he couldn’t coax his face into laughter. 

Piling on top of all the stress that tugged at his insides, the final straw was making the same wrong turns, ending up in a wrong place with a venue staff member who was pissed about it. 

“No one is allowed back here— no, no— I don’t care who you are, you’ve got to go.” 

Josh scolded himself; he was a fully grown adult man, with an arguably very successful band and who knew how to box— tears  _ shouldn’t  _ be springing to his eyes because some ‘scary guy’ yelled at him like he was an idiot, dammit. And yet, there it was and he tried to make his way back to his dressing room without anyone noticing. 

Through the door, then shut and locked behind him, Josh finally let the storm crash. He put his hands on his knees and panted, his mind turning static-y and impending doom putting his entire inside on high alert. 

_ He was a failure. Everything was falling apart. He couldn’t do it _ —  _ he was a mess _ —  _ he couldn’t breathe. He couldn’t breathe. _

Josh was on the floor on his back before he knew it, palms pressing hard into his eyes that lights burst outward from the pressure. There were techniques that he had learned but it was all escaping him at that moment, spiraling his emotions even worse. Josh felt utterly helpless and alone until a weight pressed down on his chest.

Four paws balanced precariously on his torso— two on his chest and the other two digging into his stomach. Confused, he took his hands off his face to be met by the concerned and loving gaze of his dog. Jim wasn’t all that heavy, but his balancing act tickled. Hot breath danced across Josh’s face, the last warning before Jim licked away the few tears that had escaped.

“Hey Jimmy,” Josh said hoarsely, “thank you.”

His dog took that as a cue to lie down on him, nuzzling his snout to Josh’s face. It was impossible to resist petting his velvet-soft ears and silky head, especially when Jim was demanding cuddles. 

“Good boy. Very good boy,” Josh told him, focusing on the feel of his fur under his fingertips, the warm-wet texture of his tongue licking his cheek in appreciation, and the grounding pressure on his body. 

Sure, he wasn’t instantly cured, but the attack eased and ebbed away. Jim could sense something was wrong with his ‘dad’ and had learned quickly in his relatively short life so far how to respond. The unconditional love and devotion was exactly what Josh needed in his weak moments— someone who didn’t judge or force him to speak. He could just be in that one moment, only him and his dog, and everything else could wait till he had the strength and poise to face what was scaring him. 

It didn’t matter, Jim was there for as long as he needed him, and was happy to help since it meant attention from his favorite human. 

**Author's Note:**

> teeentyonepilots on tumblr and trenchtowel on tumblr. Just working on some short fics since I’ve been writing so many long pieces. Feel free to send me a prompt, or even just say hey!
> 
> Happy birthday Jim, who will never read this because he’s a doggo. (His bday was Wednesday)
> 
> (Y’all I just wanna say here.... TYLER REPLIED TO ONE OF MY TWEETS RECENTLY AND IM STILL NOT OVER IT. I WILL NEVER BE OVER IT. k thank bye)


End file.
